


We Never Fell In Love, We Just Found Ourselves Here

by Geonn



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Sanctuary (TV)
Genre: Crossover, Crossover Pairing, F/F, Time Travel, Timey-Wimey, World War I
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-18
Updated: 2011-06-18
Packaged: 2017-10-20 13:11:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/213131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Geonn/pseuds/Geonn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>River Song and Helen Magnus were never officially introduced. Helen/River</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Never Fell In Love, We Just Found Ourselves Here

The first thing River Song did to Helen Magnus was passionately kissing her and then asking where the nearest bed was. Their first hello was still eight encounters away and, by that point, it was Helen looking for a bed. They were half undressed by the time River finally said, "You'll have to forgive me, dear, but _who are you_?"

To Helen's knowledge, their first encounter was at night, on a London street in 1902. A disturbance at a local boarding house had brought them together, and Helen had been far too distracted trying to remember her fight training to ask who the stranger was. When they subdued the creature, the stranger pulled Helen to her and kissed her passionately. Helen was far too surprised to react, and the woman had smiled and patted Helen's cheek. "Sloppier than I remember, but hopefully your other skills are still up to par. Where are you sleeping tonight, love? I've missed you something... terrible." The smile faded. "Oh, bloody hell. I'm too early, aren't I?"

River apologized for the inadvertent spoiler and helped Helen gather up the creature preying on the destitute boarders. Helen suggested using a Sanctuary holding cell, but River simply shook her head. "This will never be held by the little cells you're using now. Maybe in ten years or so. It would be better to place him in a maelstrom box. There's no escaping one of those."

Helen agreed once she was assured the box wouldn't harm the creature. After it was taken care of, Helen asked River to a cup of tea. They sat together in the Sanctuary parlor, Helen asking questions that River refused to answer.

Frustrated, angry at River's reticence, Helen bid her a good night. River, apologetic, bent down to kiss Helen goodbye. Helen touched her tongue to this mysterious manic woman's and River gave in to instinct. She undressed Helen with practiced ease. Her hands seemed drawn to the spots that made Helen weak. She kissed River's palm as they joined together in front of the fireplace, legs scissored, with Helen's hair falling free from tangled curls as her chest flushed red at what she was doing.

The buttons on River's blouse were easy enough to undo. She was used to the smooth plane of a man's chest, and she explored the way River's breasts filled her hands and responded to her touch. She circled the nipples with light touches, and River chuckled and ran her hands over Helen's thighs. "So shy... you're like a virgin, my love."

Helen's blush deepened and she lowered her head. She was no virgin, no child. She used her fingers on River, moving her hips in time, mimicking what she had seen John and James and Nikola do to women, or to her, in the past. River's eyes closed and she gasped, clawing at Helen and urging her faster, harder, until Helen's face was beaded with sweat. River came loud enough that Helen was certain the entire Sanctuary heard it, and then she proceeded to return the favor to Helen. She used an object from her bag that made Helen cry out as soon as it touched her, not relenting until Helen was a quaking mass on the carpet.

The next morning Helen woke to find a short note on the pillow next to her, signed with a lipstick kiss. Helen pressed the paper to her own lips, held it to her chest, and looked out the window as she wondered where her lover had disappeared to.

They met again in 1904. Both women smiled as they crossed Trafalgar Square to meet one another in the center. River's clothes were just slightly off, as if she'd referred to someone's uninformed idea of what turn of the century Londoners would wear. Her eyes were covered by her hat's thin veil, and she had her hands clasped around a purse. Helen grinned. They greeted each other by name, linked arms, and went back to the Sanctuary to do sinfully obscene things to one another before Helen thought to ask why River was there.

It was during that meeting that River revealed her time vortex manipulator. She told Helen about how she used it to jump from one year to the next. It wasn't always precise, and it wasn't always a smooth ride, but it was a good alternative to her favorite way of flying. When Helen asked how else someone could travel in time, River just smiled and pinched Helen's naked hip. "You'll see one day. Be patient."

Over the next ten years, River occasionally appeared in the oddest of places. An archaeological dig that Helen both hoped and feared contained the mummified remains of a vampire. At the site of a spontaneous combustion that River claimed was caused by a fire parasite. Their adventures together always included going to bed with each other, holding one another, stroking each other's bodies patiently until orgasm. Soft kisses and quiet sighs.

In 1916, Helen was in a field hospital in Verdun when she spotted River Song helping a wounded soldier into the tent. At first she was unrecognizable, under her helmet and the smeared mud and gunpowder on her cheeks. Her uniform was ill-fitting and her right hand was sloppily bandaged. It had been years since they'd seen one another, and it had felt like even longer since Helen had seen a friendly face. She pushed her way through the crowd of injured and their nurses as politely as she could.

"River, my God, you must have sensed how much I needed to see you." Helen kissed River before she could reply, not caring who saw. Half the soldiers here were under the impression Helen was a man anyway. River was stiff, her hands resting lightly on Helen's forearms until the kiss broke. Helen wiped away some of the smut from River's skin and whispered, "You must take me to bed as soon as possible."

River's eyes had widened, and Helen assumed it was at her brazen attitude in such a public place. But she nodded, and Helen excused herself to the head nurse before hurrying to her tent. Helen was on her knees, removing River's pants before River finally gave in and asked the question weighing on her mind. "You'll have to forgive me, dear, but _who are you_?"

"I'm... Helen. Helen Magnus." She stood up and saw the confusion in River's face, her heart breaking. She should have known, should have prepared herself for this moment. They kissed softly, and River drew Helen's hand between her legs.

"Well, you obviously know what you're doing. Who am I to stop you?"

They worked together for the next few days, helping to ease the strain on the medical forces. At night, River would sneak into Helen's tent and share her bed. After a week, River knelt beside Helen's cot and kissed her palms.

"I have to go. I hate to simply leave you..."

"You must. You've responsibilities elsewhere." She kissed River's forehead, her nose, and her lips. "If you waited for my permission, you would never be able to leave."

It wasn't until after River was gone that Helen realized what she'd done. Every heartbreaking morning waking to an empty bed, every time she had left the bath to find the wrinkled sheets abandoned... she had done that to herself.

They never discussed loyalty or commitment. There was no expectation of fidelity on either part. Helen had her share of lovers, men and women, and she assumed River had done the same. But when they were together, they only had eyes for each other. In 1923, River made her appearance while Helen was on vacation with her current lover in Curacao. After a bit of an awkward introduction and a slightly more relaxed dinner, Helen took them both to bed.

River was a constant in Helen's life throughout the twentieth century. As things she knew and people she loved faded and were replaced by the future, Helen could count on River remaining virtually unchanged. Her age fluctuated by a few years, older or younger depending on the day. River suggested giving Helen a list of their future meetings, but Helen refused. She loved the surprise far too much to ruin it.

In 2033, Helen was sitting on the roof of the Sanctuary with River, a blanket wrapped around their shoulders. They had spent the afternoon making love, and River suggested they watch the sunset together. Helen's hair was still wet from their bath, and River's was gathered into a ponytail. Helen looked at River, watching her profile until River turned to meet her gaze.

"What?"

"Nothing."

River kissed Helen's lips. "I know you too well for that, dear. Tell me."

"I know it was my idea that we not share future dates. You don't tell me what I have to look forward to, and I don't tell you all the times I've seen you in the past. And it works out well for us both, don't you think?"

"Very well." River smiled at the memories, and Helen wondered how many of them she had yet to experience. "What's your point?"

"One hundred and twenty one years since the first time we met. I'm sorry if that--"

"No, I was there."

Helen nodded. "Good. I've lost so many people, and so many precious things in my life have just slipped through my fingers. I just need to know when I'll lose you. If you know, if you've already been there... I don't need the details, but please. Tell me. Just tell me what year was the latest you've ever seen me."

River looked at Helen for a moment. She leaned in, and Helen closed her eyes as she whispered a date in Helen's ear.

Helen smiled, lowered her head, and kissed River's neck.

"So we have some time, then."

River nodded. "A bit. Yes. What do you intend to do with that time, Dr. Magnus?"

Helen pulled River to her, leaning back to spread the blanket out on the roof. They made love as the sun dipped below the horizon and the city darkened around them. As far as Helen was concerned, they had all the time in the world.


End file.
